


Centripetal Force, or Five Times Fox Mulder Wished He Hadn't Gotten in the Car

by TessMooreXF



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-08
Updated: 2013-01-08
Packaged: 2017-11-24 03:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/630013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessMooreXF/pseuds/TessMooreXF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title says it all, really! Five very short vignettes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Centripetal Force, or Five Times Fox Mulder Wished He Hadn't Gotten in the Car

I. Simple Science

 

There had to be a scientific explanation. Mulder  
watched his partner out of the corner of his eye,   
her tongue hanging out from the side of her mouth,  
brows furrowed in concentration. Her grip on the   
wheel was sturdy, classic 10-2 position. At least  
she did something the normal way. 

It was a snowy morning in DC, his car was in the   
shop, and their ride was tested by the presence of   
more than just a little bit of ice. Mulder couldn't   
help but think that Scully looked more like a   
kid in a bumper car than a Federal Agent on her   
way to work in 8 inches of snow. It was disturbing.   
Was it the result of checks and balances that an   
otherwise perfectly acceptable woman had deplorable  
driving skills? He supposed she had be bad at   
something. Would she kill him if he told her she was   
20 over the speed limit? He couldn't die knowing he   
hadn't tried to save himself. 

"Scully... Don't you think you should slow down a   
little?" 

When she turned to him, smiling maniacally, Mulder   
clutched more tightly at the hand grip. Maybe if he  
clung with both hands she would get the message.  
She was laughing at him. In her oversized suit and   
puffed-in-the-snow bob, the smile seemed out of   
place. 

"Am I making you nervous?" 

He nodded emphatically. 

"Its simple science, Mulder." He fought the urge to  
tell her to keep her eyes on the road as she turned  
to look at him. "Centripetal force pulls your body  
toward the center of the car, but also dictates that   
in order to get out of a spin on ice, I must turn   
the car into the spin. In other words, while you feel   
unstable in the car, the outside of the car is   
relatively unaffected. Besides, killing you would be   
disadvantageous for me." 

"Is this what you told your mother when you still had   
your learners' permit?" His voice rang cynical, but he   
almost smiled at a fleeting mental image of a teenaged   
Dana Scully driving for the first time. Didn't she say   
she used to have braces? 

"I learned to drive at school." Her smile was   
threatening to swallow her entire face. "Mr.   
Richardson liked me a lot, though."

"I bet..." Mulder sighed under his breath, looking out   
the windshield just in time to see another vehicle   
slide from the opposite side of the intersection,   
almost hitting them. 

"Shut up, Mulder. I'm driving..." 

 

\--------------------------------

 

II. Never Drive Angry

 

"Let me drive, Scully." He raised his voice a bit,   
hoping to get past the anger fog smothering his   
partner. He could practically see the smoke curling  
around her head. Her shoulders were board-stiff and   
almost pulled up to her ears, her back hunched   
forward defensively, and her face stone cold while   
she drove. Her eyes hadn't left the road, but he could   
see that she wasn't exactly present in the moment,   
either. 

"Shut up, Mulder..." She growled at him. "This is   
your own Goddamn fault." 

He didn't tell her how much he loved it when the   
sailor's daughter in her came out to play. Instead,   
he threw his arms up in frustration and rolled his   
eyes. He surmised that he would likely never win   
any points for his maturity. That was fine. 

"How is this my fault?" 

Scully shook her head, still refusing to look at   
him. "You need to stop trying to solve my problems  
for me. The man doesn't like me, Mulder. How is he  
ever going to respect me if it looks like I can't   
even fight for myself?" 

"All I did is tell him to back off. He needs to   
know that being Sheriff doesn't give him license   
to be a woman-hating dick. Is that all-right  
with you, Agent Scully?" 

His sarcasm was meant to be biting, so when Scully  
burst into a loud cackle, he was mildly confused.   
She was shaking her head while she laughed. 

"Woman-hating dick, Mulder?" 

Mulder pouted back at her. "I don't mince words...I  
meant what I said." 

"I'm sorry, Mulder..." Her apology was interrupted   
by a startling pop, followed by the car spinning   
wildly in every which direction. Scully was cursing   
in a string of expletives while she consoled the car  
over to the side of the road, its right front weight  
now shifting onto a shredded tire. "Shit!" 

Once he'd ascertained that they were both uninjured,   
Mulder waggled his eyebrows at her. "Talk dirty to   
me, baby."

He was met with a scathing look, followed by a   
quirked eyebrow. 

"There's a spare in the back." Mulder smiled. "I   
believe you owe me, Scully." 

"Don't worry, Mulder. I'll always be around to hold  
your nuts for you." She didn't laugh at his   
whitened face. "While you change out the tire, of   
course." 

 

\------------------------------

 

III. The Need for Speed

 

By now, he was used to it. They were in the middle   
of podunk, nowhere, investigating piles of manure.   
So what if Scully wanted to go 50 in a 25 mile-an-hour  
zone? It was the most interesting thing he'd seen   
all week, Mulder thought, while he watched the cows   
and farmhouses speeding by him. After six years of her  
unfortunate driving, he didn't even need the handgrip  
anymore. 

Scully looked about as invested as he was, her face   
placid but blank. Mulder counted them lucky that Kersh  
even let them leave DC anymore. At least they could   
put some physical distance between them. They'd need a  
couple thousand miles to outrun Kersh's oversized spit  
wads. 

"Son of a bitch..." At Scully's unexpected curse, he   
turned to look at her. She was watching the rearview  
miror warily. Looking in his own sideview mirror, he   
could see the squad car coming up fast behind them.   
He looked back at his partner just in time to see her  
wide blue eyes roll exaggeratedly before she pulled   
over. "Just keep your mouth shut, Mulder." 

He raised his eyebrows at her, but did as she asked  
and wiped his face clean of all expression as the   
officer meandered his way to their vehicle. He was   
young - likely not even thirty. He had the cocky   
look of a new cop, his glasses perched on the end   
of his nose while he sent a reproachful glance   
Scully's way. 

"Goin' a little fast there, weren't you, Ma'am?" It  
was like something out of a bad movie - he snapped   
his gum while he popped out a hip to rest his clip  
board upon. 

Mulder's amusement almost got the best of him when   
Scully spoke. Her voice was soft and sweet; not   
caroonish, but far unlike his matter-of-fact   
partner. He couldn't see her face, but could   
practically feel her looking up at the officer   
through her thick eyelashes. "I'm sorry, Officer." 

"I'll need to see your license and registration." If  
affected at all by her attempts, the officer didn't   
let on. Scully was silent as she reached over Mulder   
to pull her registration out of the glove box, then   
plucked her ID from her inside jacket pocket.

"You're FBI?" The surprised look on the cop's face   
was worth a million, as far as Mulder was concerned.   
Yet again, he fought to stay silent. "You from the   
Dallas branch?" 

The cop was now sidling up to Scully like a   
Christmas Ham. Mulder had to give her some credit-  
She hadn't laughed yet, and managed to look mildly  
interested in the officer herself. 

Scully shook her head. "Washington D.C."

The officer suddenly deflated. "I've applied to the   
Dallas Branch a few times, but I never hear back. I  
thought you might be my lucky break." 

Mulder was ready to yell "You Go Girl!". Clearly the   
officer was smitten. She flashed the younger man   
an overblown smile and it was all over. 

"Well, I'm sorry to disturb you, Ma'am. Just take it  
easy, ok?" The young officer flashed her his most   
charming smile, dimples and all. 

As they got going again, this time at the speed limit  
until the Officer was well out of sight, Muler watched  
his partner silently. Her face was blank again, but  
there was amusement dancing in her eyes. 

"Scully, you're a tease!" He couldn't help the   
stupid smile creeping onto his face. 

Finally, she smiled. "I'd like to see you talk your  
way out of a speeding ticket, Mulder." 

"What, you don't think my face is cute enough?"

"Its not about how cute the face is, Mulder... Its   
all about how you use it."

Was it his imagination, or did she wink at him?

 

\------------------------------

IV. Word Vomit?

 

She couldn't drive. In fact, she couldn't do much of  
anything. Stopped at a nondescript gas station in  
the middle of Tennessee, Mulder took a moment to check  
on Scully. She hadn't woken in three hours. She never   
did tolerate Percocet well. Small body weight and a   
low propensity for taking pain medications left her   
with a difficult decision: remain in pain or maintain   
consciousness. 

A difficult apprehension in a small Arkansas town had  
left them both scrambling. Unfortunately, Scully was  
bearer of the proverbial short straw, coming out of it   
with three broken ribs and one hell of a shiner. Some   
skinny idiot had been setting off bombs around town.   
Turned out he was less terrorist and more angry redneck-   
he thought he was misunderstood. Skinny idiot or not,   
he could do some damage with a two-by-four; hence,   
Scully's condition. 

A stiff swig of coffee and a couple sunflower seeds   
later and they were on their way again. Mulder couldn't  
help but smile fondly at the sound of Scully lightly  
snoring while she slept. She would insist until the   
end of time that she hadn't snored a day in her life,  
but it was his own little secret. It was a soft, sweet  
little hitch of breath, something like a purring cat.

"Mulder?" Her voice carried little more than a whisper.   
His eyes left the road for a split second while he took   
in her overly-pale face, only one eye fully opening. 

"Hey!" He smiled. "Welcome back." 

Scully smiled wanly and sighed. He could hear a hiss  
in her breathing while she changed position. She was  
obviously in a great deal of pain. 

"My stomach's killing me. You got anything to eat?"   
She was slowly rifling through the center console,   
slowed by the drugs. 

"Here." He tossed a pre-packaged blueberry muffin   
into her lap. "It was the least disgusting thing I   
could find." 

Peripherally, he could see her unwrapping the muffin  
and eating, zombie-like in her slowness. He was   
distracted by the crumbs falling absently from her  
mounth. 

"Was I talking in my sleep?" She asked around a full  
mouth. 

Mulder tossed her a suspicious look. "Is this a trap?" 

Scully smiled, but refrained from laughing, one arm  
banded around her middle. "I just tend to have...   
word vomit. When I'm on the meds, I mean." 

"Aaaah.... I see, Miss Scully. I assure you, your   
virtue is safe with me." He smiled charmingly. 

Scully was suddenly still. When he peeked at her, he  
could see her eyes watering. "Uh oh." 

"What?" He was immediately alarmed. Unable to respond   
in any other way, he joked. "More word vomit?" 

Scully shook her head. "No. Real vomit." 

With no further warning, the foamy, spongy remains of  
her blueberry muffin were splattered across the center  
console, into his seeds, and along the arm of his suit   
jacket. Mulder supposed it could have been worse. The   
muffin could have had more time to sit in her stomach.

He was eerily still as he pulled the car over. Scully  
looked shocked and mortified as she pulled the glove  
box open in search of napkins. When she found none,   
her shoulders fell in distress. "We have nothing to   
clean this up with. I've got some dirty night clothes  
in my suitcase... We can mop up. It'll have to do   
until we get to a stop. I am SO sorry, Mulder." 

She appeared wholly ill. Her skin was piqued, her   
good eye rimmed red, and she looked like she could   
blow again at any moment. He smiled patiently. 

"I'll take care of the car deposit if you buy me   
a new bag of sunflower seeds." 

 

\------------------------------

 

V. Into the Sunset

 

He didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be   
driving a car into the great "somewhere". This time,   
they weren't driving to their next case. They were  
mostly running for their lives. They were just   
staying under the radar, literally riding off into   
the sunset and away from everything they'd known. 

He didn't want to be in a car with Scully and not   
with his son. He didn't know what he wanted. He knew  
that the person he loved most in the world was sitting  
next to him, but that his anger was overshadowing that  
love. He didn't want to forgive her, but he would. 

Making love in a New Mexico hotel room had been   
awakening and somber. Opening her robe against the   
dim light of the room, he'd taken in her changed body.  
The tell-tale stretch marks and hightened curvature   
of her hips reminded him of all he'd been missing.   
She'd cried for him quietly, like she always did, and  
he could almost convince himself that nothing had   
changed. 

Staring into the deepening sunset, Scully was awash  
in oranges, pinks, and purples sitting next to him.   
With her longer hair and softened face, she was more   
beautiful than ever. She was the woman of his dreams.   
When had things gotten so damn complicated?

She looked at him, smiling. He wondered if she could  
sense his internal monologue. Could she tell he was  
angry? Was she able to see that he was warring with  
where and when to place his forgiveness? 

"I love you." She said it softly, plainly. She could  
tell. 

Peeking at her face one more time, he could see the   
sunset fading upon her, dimming before his eyes. 

He nodded. "I love you, too." 

 

\-----------------------------  
The End

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't hesitate to send feedback, good, bad, or ugly! (Ok, maybe you can keep the really ugly to yourself...) I need it like air!  
> tess.moore.xf@gmail.com


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